EU's subsidies are unfair

The African Centre for Trade and Development, ACTADE advocates for better and fair trade policies that affect trade and sustainable development in Uganda. Elly Twineyo, Executive Director of ACTADE explains how his organisation works.

By Vibeke Quaade

31. July 2008

When Minister of Finance Ezra Suruma presented the national budget of Uganda for 2008-9 he revealed that 500 walking tractors for rural farmers were included in it. He explained that the tractors were part of a pilot project to modernise Uganda’s agriculture. The plan was to distribute the tractors through out the country to selected districts, he added. The farmers would then rent them and hopefully plough more land and cultivate more crops than they could by ordinary, manual digging using the hand-held hoe.

A walking tractor in Gulu District

Good news
It is Elly Twineyo, Executive Director for ACTADE who recounts this news with excitement. And he makes sure to emphasise that even though 500 walking tractors are very few in a country of 241,040 square kilometres and a population of 30 million people of which 80 percent are farmers, the Ministers announcements were positive news.

Our agriculture is completely underdeveloped. Our people are digging by their bare hands while our competitors in Europe and America use advanced technology. Any slight improvement from the present situation is very welcome, says Elly Twineyo.

He is also a bit proud of the tractors. It is partly because of ACTADE’s lobbying and advocacy that they are on the budget line. Trade is the way forward ACTADE is one of MS Uganda’s new partners. The organisation was established in 2000. Its ultimate goal is poverty eradication.

Elly Twineyo believes that the only way to reach that is through production and trade. He believes that “begging” or Aid is not a sustainable solution to elimination of poverty. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy. It makes up 48.7%3 of all export. But according to Elly Twineyo these facts are not reflected in the political priorities. He points out that agriculture constitutes only 3,8 percent of the national budget for 2008-9 and says,
Our politicians and planners do not seem to understand that the only viable solution to development and welfare is trade. Countries like the Scandinavian, Japan and the USA have never received aid to be rich, and their secret to wealth is well known; production and trade. Africa will never prosper if we do not position ourselves in the international trade.

ACTADE is primarily involved in empowering small scale farmers to stand up for their own rights. But ACTADE’s advocacy and lobby work are also targeting the Government and Members of Parliament. Before the economic partnership agreements (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) are signed in 2009, ACTADE have lined up a series of workshops and individual meeting with the MPs and government negotiators. ACTADE’s position is always to represent small scale farmers and traders.

How to trade with EU
The planned interactions and meetings with the top decision makers of the country are therefore to make sure that they understand the impact of EPA from the perspective of the grassroots. EPA means eventual full liberalisation and free access to market for all involved partners. This raises concerns, but it is not what Elly Twineyo is most worried about. He finds the EU subsidies to its farmers the biggest issue of all.
The EU subsidy to their farmers makes it impossible for the African farmers to compete. There is no way Africa can afford to do something similar, says Elly Twineyo and continues, We will do our outmost to make the Ugandan politicians and negotiators of EPA to tackle the issue of subsidy with EU.
EPA negotiations are under six clusters; one of them being development issues, and Elly Twineyo definitely sees some possibilities in this. He advocates for substantial development aid for capacity building in quality assurance and agro-processing in order for the small scale farmers to meet the demands of the European consumers.

I see development cooperation as a way out for our farmers to learn how to satisfy the demands of the international market and get a desired price for their products, Elly Twineyo points out.

Vibeke Quaade, Information Officer, MS Uganda.
Email: info.msuga@ms.or.ug

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ACTADE
African Centre for Trade and Development, ACTADE is a registered NGO, that was established in 2000 to advocate for better and fair trade policies that affect trade and sustainable development in Uganda. It operates in Kampala, mid-Western, Central and Eastern Uganda.

ACTADE has a membership of 103 stakeholders and is managed by a board of governors and an administration lead by an Executive Director. ACTADE is involved in trade campaigns, such as the current trade agreements, the investment code, access to markets and national budget advocacy.

ACTADE which is based in Kampala is engaged in empowering Ugandan communities especially small scale farmers so that they can influence both domestic and external trade policies through raising awareness on trade policy issues, disseminating information on trade negotiations and linking up with other regional and international civil society organisation working with trade issues.

www.actade.org